Re: Parkade school faces roof leaks after snowstorm

[Guest guest]

My comment to the author:

It is really disgusting how many schools are playing this game with

children's lives. Running the fan only adds to the problem blowing

the mold throughout the building. Teachers are the number one

group that are getting ill in schools according to the Guidance for

Clinicians on the Recognition and Management of Health Effects

related to Mold Exposure and Mold Indoors.

http://www.oehc.uchc.edu/clinser/MOLD%20GUIDE.pdf.

Mold is to be cleaned up 48 hour after discovery not, months

later. It is amazing how they need the building to be tested in

order to listen to the health complaints of the teachers or

children. And that is what is happening across the country, and we

wonder why there is an epidemic of asthma among our children. Many

schools have a mold problem from lack of maintenance, shutting down

the air system while the building is closed such as vacations, etc.

It is like people need permission to have an illness. I have been

ill from dangerous mold for nine years and it is a horrible illness

that can lead to a type of asthma where everyday fragrances,

detergents cause serious breathing problems, etc. A lifetime of

suffering needlessly. I could send you thousands of articles of

schools, court houses, police stations, homes where people are

begging for help and everyone is waiting to fix the problem. Money

the root to the problem. Money or children's lives, what a price to

pay. Delp, Delaware

--- In , " tigerpaw2c " <tigerpaw2c@...>

wrote:

>

> Parkade school faces roof leaks after snowstorm

> Parents say mold triggering asthma.

> Columbia Daily Tribune

>

> By JANESE HEAVIN of the Tribune's staff

> Published Wednesday, December 13, 2006

>

> http://www.showmenews.com/2006/Dec/20061213News005.asp

>

> Roof leaks are nothing new at Parkade Elementary School, but

melting

> snow from last week's storm caused an unprecedented flood of water

> into classrooms, hallways and supply closets.

>

> " It was like somebody turned a faucet on, " Principal Betsy Baker

> said of the scene Monday morning.

>

> Trash cans, buckets and recycling containers lined the hallways to

> collect the water and had to be emptied constantly, Baker said

> yesterday. The school called in a night custodian to help mop up

the

> mess.

>

> The water caused a power glitch in Becky Melton's fifth-grade

> classroom, preventing her from using the technology she'd planned

> for the day's lesson. School supplies stored in a closet in Brett

> Hecker's fourth-grade classroom were ruined. The school's literacy

> area was still out of commission yesterday, and electric fans

worked

> to freshen the dingy air.

>

> Although Monday was a little more chaotic than usual, dealing with

> leaks has become part of the routine school day at Parkade.

>

> Replacing the school's roof is on a list of priority projects, but

> Assistant Superintendent Jacque Cowherd said he's not sure the

> district can afford a new roof until voters approve a bond issue.

> The district plans to ask for a $60 million, no-tax-increase bond

> this coming April.

>

> But parents Don and Spradling say the roof needs to be

> repaired sooner than that. They say district dollars are dumped

into

> schools that don't need improvements while their two children

suffer

> asthma symptoms triggered by excessive mold in the school.

>

> " My son hadn't had any problem until he started Parkade last year, "

> Don Spradling said. Now, he said, his son's asthma is " horrible. "

>

> Both children, ages 6 and 8, missed as much as a month's worth of

> schooling last year because they had difficulty breathing,

> Spradling said.

>

> " I don't think it's something that can wait, " she said. " As far as

> I'm concerned, if we wait, what are we waiting for? The roof to

> collapse and someone to get injured? The mold issue to cause

medical

> problems? Why do we have to wait for something to happen? "

>

> About 40 Parkade students use inhalers to control asthma, the

> school's nurse, Cecilia Glynn, said. While mold and mildew can

> trigger symptoms, Glynn said, she had no way of knowing whether air

> quality at Parkade is making children's asthma worse. Columbia

> Public Schools officials are expected to test the building tomorrow

> to determine whether mold counts are excessively high.

>

> Mold spores also can cause burning eyes, headaches and other health

> problems, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

> Glynn said teachers complain of chronic headaches at Parkade, but,

> again, she couldn't say for sure the air quality is causing those

> health problems.

>

> The Spradlings fear those unhealthy working conditions will drive

> away good teachers. The teaching staff is the primary reason they

> keep their kids at Parkade. " But how long are they going to put up

> with that? " Spradling asked. " When the teachers are gone,

> that's when we'll probably be gone. "

>

> Board of Education member Gadbois complained about

> Parkade's conditions after being elected in April. " After spending

> only a few minutes in the " media " center, I felt sick, " Gadbois

> wrote in an e-mail she sent to central office staff on April 27. " I

> worry about the students, the quality of the materials in the media

> center and the loss of resources due to dampness and resulting

mold. "

>

> Yesterday, Gadbois said she was disappointed nothing has been done

> to correct the situation. " This building is deplorable, and we need

> to do something about it, " she said.

>

>

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

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> -----------

> Reach Janese Heavin at (573) 815-1705 or jheavin@...

>